The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
